Layered Strawberry Chocolate Cup

Chocolate cups are something I've always been amazed by. To have the dish made out of chocolate is so cool, but then to be able to fill it with whatever? It takes the cup to a whole other level!

I recently went strawberry picking and I thought, what better way to use the strawberries than in a strawberry chocolate dessert? So here it goes!

For the Cake:

• 8 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup fine rice flour
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• coconut oil or butter to grease pan with

For Chocolate Bowls:

• 48 oz. dark chocolate chips

For the Strawberry Mousse Filling:

• 3 cups fresh strawberries
• 4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream

For the Strawberry Sauce:

• Strawberry pulp from the 3 cups strawberries in the mousse
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

For the Whipped Cream:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Utensils:

• Stand mixer with paddle and whisk attachment
• 9x13 pyrex pan
• Water balloons
• Air pump Double boiler (or mixing bowl over boiling water)
• Wax paper
• Cookie sheet

We are going to start by making the cake layer. Since it has to bake and cool, it's best to do this a little bit in advance. To start, separate the eggs. Make sure that none of the yolk gets into the whites! If that happens, the oil in the yolk will cause the egg whites to be unable to whip and make stiff peaks later on, causing the cake to not work.

Next, pour the egg yolks (all eight of them!) into a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment. Then pour in the granulated sugar. Turn the stand mixer onto medium low and mix until the egg yolks have turned a sort of pale yellow color.

Turn the mixer off and sift the flour and corn starch into the egg yolks. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. If it gets thick and clumpy, don't worry! Corn starch (or really any starch at that) tends to do weird things. It'll get thinned out later.

Now take the egg yolk batter and transfer it into a different bowl. Thoroughly wash off the stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment. Any excess oil from the yolks will ruin what we're about to do!

After you've dried off your bowl, return it to the stand mixer and pour in the egg whites and lemon juice. Then turn it on medium high and watch it transform while you plug your ears ;) Stop it once it gets to soft peaks and add the granulated sugar. Then whisk until it forms stiff peaks.

Once the egg whites form stiff peaks, transfer the egg yolk batter into the egg whites. On a slow speed, mix them both together until there are no differences between the two. Be careful, though, to not over mix. A big point of a sponge cake is it's fluffy, airy texture and that will be removed with too much mixing.

Then transfer the batter into a greased 9x13 pyrex pan and bake at 350° for thirty minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let it sit in the pan for ten minutes before taking out and placing on a cooling wrack. Set aside.

Pour the chocolate chips into the double boiler and stir occasionally until chocolate is fully melted. Set aside for a few moments until it's cool enough to be handled.

While waiting, cover a cookie sheet in wax paper. Then, using a spoon, place a tablespoon or so of chocolate on the wax paper making a row. I was able to fit three rows of three.

Fill up water balloons with air, either using a pump or, if you don't have one and feel ambitious, your mouth. The side your mouth would touch won't be touching the chocolate, so don't worry about the potential germs.

Now, take the water balloon and dip it into the chocolate, rolling it around until it has covered about half of the balloon. Carefully hold it over the melted chocolate bowl to allow the excess to drip off, then place the balloon on the dot of chocolate on the wax paper.

Repeat with all remaining balloons, or until you run out of chocolate. I was able to make eleven chocolate bowls, but if you don't want that many, you can save the chocolate for something else, or create cute cake toppers from it that you could use for the bowls later on.

Place the balloons in the freezer until the chocolate has hardened, then take them out and pop the balloons. To avoid the balloons popping too suddenly and breaking the chocolate, I used scissors and carefully made a little hole by the knot at the top so that it slowly let out air. Then pull the popped balloon out of the bowl! It usually comes out pretty easily. But if not, just finagle it a little bit and it'll come out.

Then, instead of popping it back into the freezer, place the bowls at room temperature for a few hours or overnight until the chocolate has set.

Hull the strawberries, getting rid of all the greens. Then place in a food processor and blend at a medium speed for a minute or so. Strain the strawberry blend through a fine mesh sieve, keeping both the juice and the pulp in different bowls. Set aside.

Pour cold water into a small bowl, then add the gelatin. Stir until fully combined. It'll get pretty clumpy and thick. Then place the gelatin in the microwave and heat until smooth.

Place room temperature cream cheese and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, then add heavy cream. Whip on high using the whisk attachment until the filling has formed stiff peaks. Set aside.

Take the strawberry juice and pour about 1/3 cup it into the warm gelatin. Stir together until fully combined, then pour the gelatin into the rest of the strawberry juice. Stir thoroughly, then slowly pour the juice into the whipped mixture. Use a spatula this time and gently fold the juice into it.

Take the strawberry pulp and place in a small saucepan on high. Add in the lemon juice and sugar, and stir. Continue stirring off and on to keep the sauce from sticking the bottom of the pan. Allow the sauce to reduce for about half an hour.

Then take off heat and cool.

Place heavy cream in the bowl of the stand mixer and whisk on high until it has formed soft peaks. Add the powdered sugar in and whisk once more, continuing until there are stiff peaks. Add vanilla and whisk on low until fully incorporated. Set aside.

Place the cake on a cutting board and cut out circles using the open lid of a mason jar. I got twelve circles from the cake, one more than I needed. Then enjoy the scraps!

Place both the whipped cream and the strawberry mousse in separate piping bags. Snip the top off the strawberry mousse piping bag and set aside. There's no need for a piping tip for that one.

For the whipped cream, you will be rotating between Wilton 35 (which will be used to pipe the top of the dessert) and Wilton 31 (which will be used to pipe the decorative flower).

Place the chocolate bowl on a plate and fill the bottom half with the strawberry mousse filling. Place one of the cut out circles of cake on top of the strawberry mousse and press down, letting the mousse come around the sides of the cake. Let set in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Take the bowls out of the fridge and place a spoonful of the strawberry sauce over the cake. Smooth out so that the sauce covers both the cake and whatever mousse is visible. Then, starting on the side, pipe around the top of the dessert until all has been covered.

Place a teaspoon of the strawberry sauce in the center of the whipped cream, then pipe a tiny star in the center. Serve and enjoy!